h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This tragedy continues to unfold and turns more ugly each day.
I have not been nore riveted to CNN since September 11th.

Interesting is the prompt response today to evacuate the 200 white tourists at the Ritz-Carlton hotel while thousands of people of color remain in hellish conditions on interstates, attics, rooftops and at the main refugee center at the New Orleans stadium.

We lived though several hurricanes in Florida last year...There are still FEMA trailers housing thousands a year later in Charlotte county, a small community. Living without power, I can say from experience, for several weeks is truly very frustrating, but this tragedy is something completely new in terms of a systems breakdown.

New Orleans is a disaster of unprecedented magnitude in America with probably 1,000,000 homeless refugess.

Shame on me for not renting a U-haul truck and driving bottled water and food to help these victims....I had hoped that the federal government would be more organized than me.

Yeah. This is not our finest hour.
I'm in ask h2g2 with someone who says we shouldn't 'politicize' the hurricane for cheap political capital. At what point is that idea not applicable?

High crimes and misdemeanors... not in a Republican Congress.
Getting your willy whoo'd - Impeach.
Total inadequacy - Support.

Because the people in Misissippi and Louisiana are suffering, we are supposed to give all politicians a pass then? Even when their policies in relation to the Corp of Engineers and FEMA directly influenced the severity of the situation in New Orleans and the ability of FEMA to respond? Sorry, I don't buy it.

There's a concert for Hurricane Relief on right now

I don't care if it's a Democrat or Republican that gets the blame for this - if they're incompetent, if they contributed to the mismanagement of this disaster, they need to go away. It just so happens that Democrats are shut out of power.
I'm proud to see quite a few Republicans been skeptical and critical of Bush now. I like to think that I would be similarly critical if, say, Clinton screwed up like that. Drop a piano on my head if I end up as a hypocrite when we get a Dem Prez.

They're ALL politicians, Jodan, I just wish we had competent people in charge.

LTNS, Phred!

Webb City?

St. Petersburg, Florida, 1955?

A lady sits in the backroom of the department store and speaks though a microphone about your personal life details though the mouth of a fibergass mermaid to the astonishmemt of new residents who have now been sand-bagged by relatives who have been there a year or two longer?

Someone just said 'George Bush doesn't care about black people' (unscripted, I would imagine) on the Hurricane Concert. This may end up being a thing. Hopefully it won't distract from the efforts, but I dunno

If this happened to an Ohio city or Indiana, Kentucky, anywhere near me and the Federal government sat back and did nothing, I don't think I could stand it...

Ah, that last part came out wrong.
Only meant that I know more people around Ohio - more family there. We are all Americans.

Distracted, you know...

Phred, I don't have a clue what you're talking about, but it sounds very colorful. I could use a talking mermaid.

Why do some entertainers always try to polarize everything? They are dioing a good thing to try to raise money for relief then they go and make their remarks and opinions the focus of attention instead of the cause itself.

Yeah, I'm not sure what Phred is talking about either. But I'm learned to get used to that

Just one guy. He was talking next to Mike Myers. Threw him off pretty good
It is no good. Hopefully it won't become a thing. Not now.

Jodan brought up Webb City...I just wondered if it could be possibly my childhood Webb City with the talking fiberglass mermaid or what else it was he was obsessing about.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tips/getAttraction.php3?tip_AttractionNo==2866

Phred, I live in Webb City. Jodan was referring to my folksy hillbilly charm.

How 'bout that?
Hyp lives in a city in Missouri called Webb City. It's got, or had, some sort of zinc mine, I think.

Webb City, Missouri also came up on google..no fiberglass talking mermaids .

'cept Hyp

Yes. Lead and zinc mining was the main industry up until WW2.

So, Phred, you're from St. Petersburg? My F loved St. Petersburg.

Zinc. Pah.

Gotta love Florida. Mostly it's weather and memories of Disney

St. Peterburg is over the bay from Tampa...Jesse Jackson just came on CNN and said that while thousands of people are dying of exposure, heat and thirst, there are empty 150 buses that are parked nearby because we can't yet decide where to transport them...to get back to the theme..,if incompetence was criminal offence some of our public officials should be housed underwater in New Orleans jails.